


A Long Rain

by Bandity



Series: Voltron Whump Week [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Burns, Emotional Turmoil, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Illness, It's me so someone is going to puke, Past Child Abuse, Vomit, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-17 01:08:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11840823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bandity/pseuds/Bandity
Summary: It's a search and rescue mission and Lance is happy to be out in the rain, but he really doesn't understand why Keith hates it so much.





	A Long Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Written for whump week Day 4: Torture
> 
> I didn’t want to write a general torture fic, like someone gets captured and tortured for information. I can’t do that to them. I put everyone through so much, but I just can't write a torture situation. So I ended up with this. Which is still pretty upsetting. 
> 
> Excuse mistakes, I am short on time.

 

 

 

Shiro kept having to remind Lance that this wasn’t a game. This was dangerous. Well Lance already knew that. Of course he knew that.

When they had first come to this planet, Lance had stared outside of the large glass dome with amazement as water poured from the sky and soaked the large, grey, bare trees. Everyone else was impressed with the city that lived in what looked like a large upside down fishbowl. The dome protected the inhabitants from the constant rain that beat down on this planet. But Lance just kept staring out at the rain with longing. It was slightly acidic and dangerous rain, but rain all the same.

So when the locals requested their help with a search and rescue mission outside the dome, Lance had agreed to it without hesitation. The others agreed as well, though Pidge was staying behind in an attempt to coordinate the search efforts. Some of the city’s best scientists had been on an expedition to research some nearby caves and they hadn’t made it back yet. They were believed to be stranded, as flooding was common in the area.

“The storm makes communication unreliable, even our coms will be going in and out.” Pidge typed away at the computer they had provided her with. She was happy where she was, having no desire to scavenge through a forest that held puddles that often went up past her knees.

So along with some of the dome’s residents, they all walked in a line out into the trees. This whole world was in shades of brown, grey and yellow. There was hardly any green. Though Lance was told that in certain seasons, the foliage did turn a sort of green color.

Shiro had ordered them to stay within sight of each other.

“Don’t wander off. Lance, are you listening?”

Lance had been _mostly_ listening, but then he finally got out there and got to walk through it and he just sort of forgot about the warnings. The drops hitting his armor and tapping his helmet with a familiar rhythm created a sense of glee in his chest.  

The rain sounded the same here.

It sounded like home.

Lance let his mind get lost in the familiar pitter patter of the drops as he wandered forward. He was taking in the water dripping off the tree branches and collecting below into puddles that he stomped in, sending water spraying outwards. He wouldn’t say he was splashing, he wasn’t a little kid, but he was certainly enjoying it. He wished the water was clearer, instead of cloudy and murky looking. He knew it wasn’t safe. If it wasn’t for his armor it would make him sick. Still, he wished he could touch it… Feel it hitting his skin.

Maybe…

It couldn’t be that dangerous, just a little bit wouldn’t hurt…

Lance glanced around. He had managed to lose sight of everyone. That would be something he would have to fix later, but for now, it would work in his favor. With one last look around, he lowered his face shield and quickly slipped off his helmet. He was startled by how warm it was. Warm and pleasant and so, so familiar.

Lance lifted his head up and he looked up at the clouded sky. A laugh escaped him. He shut his eyes and just took it all in.

He had really missed this.

Thunder rumbled in the distance and distantly he wondered if the storm was getting worse.

Lance jumped when his com crackled to life. Guiltily, Lance jammed his helmet back onto his head and cleared his throat too loudly.

“… Lance…. are… you… Keith near…”

“Pidge you’re breaking up. Something wrong?”

“… Keith… lightning… Should be… you.”

“I don’t see any lightning. I heard thunder though. Do I need to come back?”

There was a brief pause and he imagined Pidge was doing her best to boost the signal.

“Lance!” Pidge’s voice sounded much clearer. “You and Keith walked way too far out!”

Lance glanced around, he didn’t see Keith anywhere.

“We already located the missing scientists, but we lost Keith on the coms. There was a lightning strike really close to him. Lance, you’re the closest. Shiro is on his way, but you need to check on Keith.”

“Which way?” Lance turned in a circle, starting to panic a little bit. He clenched his jaw, he needed to stay calm.

“Walk the direction you were already going, but go a little to your right.”

“Okay, got it.”

“Lance…” Pidge cut out again as Lance moved forward. It was okay, he knew what he needed to do.

Lance found the tree first. It was in the middle of a clearing and it was charred and split into two halves. Lance backed away from it, concerned about a second lightning strike. Lance didn’t see Keith anywhere though.

_If I was a mullet head and I nearly got struck by lightning… I would go…_

Lance walked around the tree in a wide circle, he then walked around a few puddles, because Keith would have, and he was surprised to find that the ground fell away to form a little trench with a little stream running through it. Lance followed that until he found the end of a huge fallen tree. The tree was massive and had become hollowed out in time.

There was a bit of light, a flash of something red against the dark grey.

Lance stooped down and found Keith just inside the hollowed trunk. His legs were drawn up and his face was hidden behind his knees.

“Hey,” Lance called carefully, but Keith didn’t move. Now that his eyes were adjusting, Lance could see that Keith’s armor looked charred all up his left side. Lance wondered if any of that had broken through to his skin.

“Hey, Keith.” Lance cautiously reached over and tapped the other boy’s arm. Startled, Keith jumped, but he didn’t make a sound, which Lance thought was weird. Keith just stared at him with wide eyes and now Lance could see the damage done to his helmet. The one side had burned and begun to warp. Through the face shield, Lance could see a burn on the edge of Keith’s face.

“Oh, hey. Wow, man. Did you get hit with lightning?”

Keith slowly shook his head. “Was standing under the tree…”

Lance was relieved that Keith was speaking, for a moment he had been worried that Keith was too shaken up to communicate. He seemed alright though.

“Wow, that’s crazy. Are you hurt? Can you walk?”

Keith nodded slowly and he carefully stretched out his legs.

“Shiro is going to try and meet us. So we should head back.”

“Okay,” Keith muttered as he moved from his hiding spot and pulled himself into a standing position. He wobbled on his feet and Lance put out a hand to catch his arm.

“You alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s go.” Keith began walking back along the edge of the trench. Lance looked around and realized he wasn’t entirely sure which way was the right way back to the city. Keith seemed pretty determined, resolutely avoiding looking at the tree that was burned and broken. Lance picked up his pace to catch up.

“Hey, Keith. How close were you exactly when it hit?” Lance was curious, he wanted to know how narrowly Keith had escaped.

“I was leaning against the trunk.”

“Oh… taking a break from the search?”

“I was trying to get out from the damn rain.” Keith turned and stared at Lance with a firm frown on his face.

“You don’t like rain?”

“Not really. I mean it’s usually fine, but it’s just so annoying. It’s tapping my helmet and it’s not stopping. I walked under the stupid tree to get away from it.”

“Oh,” Lance walked along after Keith. He didn’t understand the other boy. Lance liked the way the rain tapped against his helmet and all his armor. He missed the way it sounded against an umbrella, but this was alright. It was nice. However, as he watched Keith walk along, he realized that the boy was stopping to shudder every few steps. Was it really bothering him that much?

They walked in silence for several minutes until Keith suddenly stopped and turned to Lance again.

“Are you sure this is the right way?”

“What? Man, I’m following you!”

“What? No, I’m following you!”

“I’m walking behind you, how are you following me?”

“I thought you’d tell me if I was going the wrong way.”

Lance blinked at Keith. Clearly there had been a misunderstanding. Lance hoped Shiro would find them soon.

“Well, I’m pretty sure this is right,” Lance gestured in the general direction they were walking. “That tree there looks… familiar.”

Keith was opening his mouth to say something, when the sky above them flashed. Lance jumped slightly, but Keith actually fell to his knees. It was over in an instant and then thunder rumbled over their heads as the rain began falling even harder in a torrential downpour. Keith batted a hand above his head as though he could fight the droplets away; get them to stop beating down upon him for just one second. He growled in aggravation and attempted to stand up again. His left leg buckled under his weight and he fell into the mud before he could catch himself.

“Keith!” Lance rushed forward and immediately began trying to help. Another flash of lightning and Keith actually screamed this time. He struck out, trying to push Lance away from him. Lance backed off, letting his hands fall to the side. He watched as Keith angrily slammed a fist to the ground and took short gasping breaths.

“Hey,” Lance spoke softly. “Hey, just take a deep breath.”

Keith shook his head and Lance couldn’t get over how absolutely furious he looked. Lance wondered who he was even angry with.

“It’s okay. Just breathe. Hang on… Oh, here.” Lance had an idea. He lifted his arm above Keith’s head and activated the energy shield. It wasn’t exactly an umbrella, and the sound the rain made when it hit it wasn’t very pleasant, but it would keep Keith from being constantly pelted. Keith stared with wide eyes and he looked at Lance with such relief that Lance felt awful for not thinking of it out sooner.

“That a little better?” Lance asked quietly. Keith gave the slightest nod. Keith’s breathing slowly began to even out. Luckily, there was no more lightning flashing across the sky.

Lance developed a slight cramp in his arm before Keith said he was ready to move again. Keith’s armor was too damaged to form his own shield and he insisted that Lance didn’t need to walk with one arm hovering over his head. They faced the down pour head on.

Lance was reluctant to agree that the rain was anything but amazing, but it did seem to be tapping the back of his helmet a bit loudly. It made things hard to see too, so maybe he could see why Keith was struggling. As they walked, Keith kept shaking his head and growling in agitation every once in a while. Lance walked close by, waiting to assist him if he needed it.

They were picking their way around a dense thicket when Lance felt the first wave of nausea. It was so sudden that Lance couldn’t hide the surprise on his face. He bent slightly and reflexively touched a hand to his stomach.

Keith didn’t seem to notice as he continued waging a war against the rain beating down on him.

“Hey, let’s take a break,” Lance suggested. Keith nodded and sat down so that his head was partially under a huge, yellow leaf. Lance walked over to sit near his teammate. He activated his shield and held it above both of their heads. Lance ignored the way his stomach turned. He couldn’t be sick now. Keith was hurt and obviously having some kind of… emotional breakdown with the rain.

“You don’t have to do that,” Keith bit out.

“I’m trying to help.”

Keith said nothing, choosing instead to run his hand up the damaged armor along his torso.

“Does it hurt?” Lance asked quietly, noticing the way Keith’s fingers started to claw at his side.

“I… I feel like there is water dripping down my ribs. I can’t reach it to wipe it off.”

Lance studied Keith’s armor. It was possible that it had become damaged to the point that water was leaking through. Lance pulled his knees up to his chest, trying to ignore the pain building in his own stomach.

“It really doesn’t bother you?” Keith asked in exasperation.

“No, I like the rain. I always have.”

“But doesn’t it just tap on you constantly? It’s giving me a headache and I can’t get away from it and I swear it’s dripping down my back.” Keith reached back with his good arm and swiped at the water that had collected there. “I just want it to stop.”

“Alright, alright.” Lance looked behind Keith, but he couldn’t see anything wrong with the armor there. Keith was taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. Keith started to stand and Lance moved his shield away to avoid hitting him by accident. As he moved, Lance noticed that Keith was favoring both his arm and his leg on his left side and, judging by the way he tried to hide his grimace, he was in more pain than he was letting on.

“Let’s just get back,” Keith muttered. Lance quickly moved to follow him, ignoring the flip his stomach did. Lance frowned, realizing a headache had snuck up on him. When had it started to hurt like that? Lance ignored it and walked carefully beside Keith, ready to help if the other boy tripped or anything.

They walked and walked and walked.

They walked until Keith was constantly wiping away the water that was streaming down his armor and Lance was feeling so uncomfortable that he was pretty sure he was going to throw up or pass out.

Keith suddenly growled and kicked the tree next to them. He kicked it over and over until his foot hurt. He just needed something to distract him from that constant dripping and the sensation of water going down his back and his arm and his side.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Keith swore and punched the tree as hard as he could, he thought he felt one of his fingers crack, but he was so upset he didn’t even care. He went to punch it again, but arms were wrapping around him and pulling him away.

“Keith! Stop! You’re going to hurt yourself! What the hell is wrong with you?”

They both stumbled and fell into the mud where Keith just lay panting. Lance activated his shield again and propped it up above Keith’s face.

“You need to calm down,” Lance hissed. Lance sat up, but Keith only stared blankly, not making any effort to sit up. Lance worried that the other boy had snapped. Maybe the lightning had done something to his head?

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Keith finally mumbled. Lance was surprised to see tears in the other boy’s eyes.

“Keith, it’s okay, but you gotta calm down. You’re going to really hurt yourself.”

“I got pneumonia as a kid,” Keith blurted out. Lance raised an eyebrow, but nodded at him to continue.

“I was almost drowned and they left me there.” Keith snapped his jaw shut, the rest of the story wasn’t something he could talk about. Nobody knew about it. Shiro didn’t even know the whole story.

He had learned over the years that bullies came in all shapes, sizes and ages. He also learned that people didn’t like hearing about how the bullies hurt you. About how they shut you in a crate and poured water down on you because it was funny and they were bigger than you, so they could get away with it and how nobody came for you for hours and hours because they didn’t care and it was all just cold and darkness and water drip, drip, dripping down his back. He was alone and forgotten and sick. And nobody actually gave a shit. There hadn’t been anyone that cared about him in a long time.

He was removed from that home after that. The social worker gave him such a pitying look and that’s when Keith really knew he would never have a real home or family ever again.

Keith was crying and he didn’t even look like he was aware of it. He just kept staring angrily at Lance while tears began falling down his face.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay,” Lance whispered. With that, Keith broke completely. He started crying hard and he would have curled into the mud if Lance hadn’t pulled him into a sitting position and leaned him against his shoulder. Protected by the shield from the rain, Keith cried and cried. Lance didn’t really understand what had happened, but he felt like this was something that the boy had been holding onto for a long time. So Lance let him shed his tears and he offered quiet assurances when he felt Keith struggle to draw in a breath. He didn’t cling to Lance, but he rested his head against him and just sobbed as though his heart was broken. Lance wished he knew why it had broken so, but if Keith couldn’t tell him, then he wouldn’t push the matter.

Time dragged on and Lance’s arm was sore from holding the shield above them for so long. Also, Lance really did feel sick now; seemed that neither of them was in a state to travel any further. They would have to just wait for rescue.

Lance’s stomach continued to roll after Keith’s tears finally slowed, but they both remained still and quiet while the rain poured down around them.

* * *

 

When Shiro finally found them, he picked up Keith from the ground right away. Once Keith was being taken care of, the first thing Lance did, was raise his face shield and throw up.

Everything went a little fuzzy after that. Lance had no idea how, but Shiro got them both to safety while carrying Keith and letting Lance lean against him the entire time. Lance had managed to spike a fever and everyone was really shocked by how quickly he had become sick… until Lance admitted to taking off his helmet to let the rain hit him.

“The rain is toxic!” Pidge yelled at him. “Everyone told you not to touch it!”

That was weird. He remembered learning that the rain wasn't exactly safe, but he didn’t remember _everyone_ telling him that. He must have been too excited to listen before.

“Pidge, I’m sick. You can’t scream at me when I’m sick," Lance whined. Lance had been given his own room in the planet’s hospital. He had his own bed and there were plenty of chairs for his team to visit him. Apparently, the people there felt bad that Lance had gotten ill while looking for their missing scientists. Luckily, the local physician had said he would be fine in a day.

“It’s your own fault. Don’t you ever do that again,” Pidge snapped.

“We were all really worried,” Hunk offered with a small smile. Pidge looked disgruntled, but she nodded in agreement and let out an agitated breath.

“Be more careful, okay?” Pidge gave Lance’s arm a squeeze and he smiled tiredly at her.

“Okay.”

* * *

 

As soon as Lance was admitted to the hospital, Shiro had taken Keith directly to the castleship and had him put into a cryopod. When Keith finally woke up from his forced sleep, he looked well and there was no sign of the physical or emotional turmoil Lance had witnessed down on the planet. Lance was starting to think that he had hallucinated the entire experience, when Keith grabbed his arm and pulled him close. It wasn’t a hug, it didn’t even seem friendly really, it was just Keith’s way of getting his full attention.

“Thank you,“ Keith whispered.

"No problem,” Lance answered automatically. Keith nodded and let go of Lance’s arm. Shiro wrapped his arm around Keith’s shoulders and was giving Lance a look of gratitude as well. Lance just smiled in return.

The rest of the team was soon expressing their relief and then they were excitedly filling Keith in on what he had missed.

Lance really didn’t understand Keith all the time, but he would do everything he could to support him and protect him. That’s just what being part of a team was all about.

That’s what being part of a family was all about.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> General inspiration and most of the title lovingly stolen from Ray Bradbury’s The Long Rain.
> 
> I love all my whump week fics equally as though they were my children, but I particularly like the way this one turned out, especially because it gave me trouble for days. Thank you to everyone for reading!


End file.
